Bihar BJP leader Sanjay Jha justifies decision to join JD (U)

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Bihar, Sanjay Jha, on Tuesday justified his decision to join the Janata Dal (United), saying the latter is an alliance and that he had not gone into some other political party.

"The JD (U) is in alliance. It is not that I have gone to some other party. Whatever work was allotted earlier, it will be done in the same manner today," he told the media here.

Jha said he made the decision to join the JD (U) after consulting with the top BJP leaders. He said that he had interacted and taken the consent of important leaders like Arun Jaitley, Sushil Modi and Dharmendra Pradhan before taking a decision to join the JD (U).

"I have joined the JD (U) today and there are no regrets from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). I have come here after talking to all the top BJP leaders. I have come in JD (U) after taking the consent of the central and the state BJP leaders," said Jha.

Jha, however, said that his respect for BJP would continue to remain the same.

Jha, who joined the chief minister's party today, was close to senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

He was nominated by the BJP to the Bihar Legislative Council, and has in the past served as a mediator between the two ruling parties.

It may be recalled here that the relationship between the BJP and JD (U) has off late not been good with the two political parties differing on the choice for the presidential candidate. The BJP has backed former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma in the race to Raisina Hill, while the JD (U) has backed UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee.

Moreover, Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar had earlier taken potshots at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, touted by many to be the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.